Watch the moment Andrew Griffith is grilled on whether he is “fiscally responsible” to handle Britain’s economy after being appointed the new Shadow Chancellor.
Speaking to GB News, the Tory shadow minister was handed a scathing takedown on his previous role in Liz Truss’s Government, where he was a Treasury Minister during her disastrous mini-Budget which almost broke the UK economy.
Quizzed on Kemi Badenoch’s Shadow Cabinet reshuffle, GB News host Camilla Tominey asked Mr Griffith: “What was wrong with Mel Stride then?”
He responded: “Look, Mel did a great job. He vanquished Rachel Reeves, that played a core part in getting rid of Prime Minister Keir Starmer.
“Kemi’s asked me to do this role, I hope bringing on my private sector experience, 25 years in business. Without business, we are not going to get the economy growing.
“Over a decade as finance director of one of the UK’s largest companies, bringing all of my lessons as an accountant to fiscal responsibility, but also putting in place plans to get our economy growing and help people with the cost of living.”
Challenging Mr Griffith, Camilla questioned whether he is “really fiscally responsible”.
She asked: “Are you definitely fiscally responsible? As the Prime Minister Andy Burnham has pointed out, you were a Treasury minister when Liz Truss and Kwasi Kwarteng came out with their mini Budget that nearly broke the British economy?”
Mr Griffith rejected Camilla’s argument, telling GB News: “There’s only one person responsible for the Liz Truss’s budget, and that’s Liz Truss. I was a very junior minister at the time, I wasn’t cited on that Budget, and my portfolio did not include tax and spend decisions.
“But look, the person that I am, and you can see that this week when I set out in two days after my appointment, proper plans fully costed to fund the defence of our nation, something that John Healey claimed to have resigned over back in the summer.”
Taking aim at Mr Healey, the Shadow Chancellor argued: “He’s been the real Chancellor for two whole months, absolutely nothing, kicking the can down the road.
“I want people to be able to sleep safe in their beds at night, knowing that our nation is being defended securely.
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“But also that their finances, their jobs, their savings and investments are safe, are in safe hands. That’s who I am, that’s who I’m going to be.”
Pushing back on Mr Griffith’s defence, Camilla recalled his previous praise of Ms Truss’s Budget: “You did praise Liz Truss for her economic program, didn’t you? You were quite keen on that mini budget?”
Hitting back at Camilla, Mr Griffith made clear: “Well, it wasn’t all bad, Camilla, any plans to cut taxes to get the economy growing, to get people building, to reduce some of the thicket of regulation – but I’ll be really clear,there was one fatal flaw.
“One fatal mistake in that Budget, the plans didn’t fully add up, they didn’t explain where all the money is coming from.
“That is exactly the position that this Government right now is in, and the interest rates that they are having to pay on our debt are even higher.”
He declared that the way Labour is handling the country’s finances is “no way to run an economy”.
He told GB News: “The nation is paying more than £100billion a year simply for the privilege of borrowing money, that’s more than twice the amount we spend on defence. That is no way to run an economy.
“So fiscal responsibility will undermine everything we do. That is who I am, that’s what I did in my 25 years in business.
“Someone I think pointed out this week that that exceeds the entire business experience of the entire Labour cabinet, but judge me by my actions.
“Week one, finding a fully costed plan to fund our defences, and every tax cut that we promise – and we will be a tax cutting, Conservative Government – will be fully costed. We will explain where the money is coming from.”
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